HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Pegasus World Cup Invitational runner-up Locked had his name added this weekend to the growing list of top-rated U.S. horses who will bypass the $20 million Saudi Cup this year. Trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed that Locked, who overcame a somewhat eventful trip to finish a game but distant second to White Abarrio in the Pegasus World Cup, will forgo the Saudi Cup to await the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 1. “Ownership talked it over and they just felt like they wanted to stay home,” Pletcher noted when asked the reason for the decision to skip the rich Saudi Cup. “We had everything prepared to go, but after weighing the options, they just decided it might be a little too risky traveling that far.” Locked, who is owned in partnership by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm, earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for his effort in the Pegasus, matching the number he received for winning the Grade 2 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct in his previous start. Locked had his first work since the Pegasus last Friday at Palm Beach Downs, going an easy half-mile in 49.20 seconds. The announcement about Locked came just 24 hours after the connections of Eclipse Award winner Soul of an Angel disclosed they too had decided to skip the race to point instead for the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland on April 5. Soul of an Angel, the 2024 champion filly and mare sprinter, was second on the also-eligible list for the Saudi Cup at the time she was taken out of consideration. :: Get Gulfstream Park Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day. Both her Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained stablemate White Abarrio and the reigning 3-year-old champion Sierra Leone were invited to the Saudi Cup but will also not participate in the race. Joseph canceled a scheduled work this weekend for Soul of an Angel in light of the fact she will now not make a start until the first week of April. “She was ready to run now, so we’re going to back down a little, just gallop her for a bit, then put her on a work schedule, maybe five in all, leading up to the Madison,” Joseph said. Royal Delta draws field of 11 Pletcher and Joseph will have key players in Saturday’s main event, the Grade 3 Royal Delta Stakes for fillies and mares to be decided at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. Pletcher will send out Autumn Evening, a winner of two of her last three starts, while Joseph counters with the trio of Libban, Intrepid Daydream, and Dazzling Move. They are part of a wide-open 11-horse field that also includes Miss New York, runner-up in the Carousel Stakes at Laurel Park in her 2024 finale, and Grand Job, easy winner of both starts since shipping to the U.S. and joining trainer Bill Mott’s barn last season. Autumn Evening will stretch out beyond a mile and around two turns for the first time in the Royal Delta. “I thought she had a decent win in the allowance race. She finished well and galloped out really strongly in her last workout, so we just felt now is the time to give her the opportunity to try going around two turns,” Pletcher said. Autumn Evening will have to overcome post 10, a poor draw in races run over the main track at 1 1/16 miles. Libban is the only one of the three Joseph fillies proven at the distance, having captured the Wasted Tears Stakes by 5 1/2 lengths going 1 1/16 miles over the turf last summer at Lone Star Park. A versatile sort, Libban has registered her three other career wins on dirt, including a high-priced optional-claiming and allowance race going a mile by four lengths here during the winter of 2023. :: Play Gulfstream Park with confidence! DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports available now. Intrepid Daydream is a three-time Maryland-bred stakes winner who has raced exclusively in sprint stakes of late. Dazzling Move, multiple stakes-placed going seven furlongs last season, recently joined Joseph’s barn and has been training extremely well for the Royal Delta, which will be the first time she has raced beyond a mile. Joseph increases lead Joseph increased his advantage atop the trainer standings by winning two races Friday and three on Sunday, including a popular tally in the finale by Executive Success, who was ridden to victory by seven-pound apprentice Rachel Slevinsky. The win was the first locally from just two mounts for Slevinsky, and the 39th of her career, which began two years earlier at the Century Mile in Alberta, Canada. “Rachel works for me and I wanted to give her a chance to ride a winner at Gulfsream,” Joseph said. “When I can give an opportunity like that to someone, I always like to. She’s helping us with our horses in the morning and it was rewarding to help her with a winner in the afternoon to reciprocate.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.